Tumblr, the popular microblogging platform, is currently in the midst of a user revolt. Its aggressively content-filtering systems have been marking posts as “mature” inappropriately, leading to outrage from users. This has been a problem ever since Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, bought Tumblr in 2019. Meanwhile, users are rightfully incensed that their posts—which don’t even have the presence of explicit content—are being labeled inappropriately. This ongoing crisis has left many in the community outraged.
Since the acquisition, Tumblr has undergone two rounds of layoffs, cutting a total of 16% of its staff. Most of the remaining Tumblr employees have transitioned to other teams in Automattic. Yet this dramatic change has since left the platform operating on a skeleton crew. This drastic cut to manpower has alarmed the public about the platform’s capacity to adequately oversee its content moderation procedures.
In an effort to shore up its bottom line, Tumblr is currently working on migrating its back end over to WordPress. Automattic itself made this change last year to make administration more efficient. Secondly, it looks to make up for the platform’s huge annual operating deficit, now at $30 million a year. With half a billion blogs hosted on the platform, the transition is seen as a critical step towards stabilizing Tumblr’s operations.
Even with these changes in place, users have still found a way to complain about moderation. Many have noted that their posts are being incorrectly flagged as mature, drawing parallels to similar issues faced by other social media platforms like Instagram. Instagram, too, has faced these types of mass bans and has not responded to comment on this phenomenon.
Tumblr’s recent moves to improve user safety have led a spokesperson to speak out about the continued struggle with content moderation.
“As we work to make Tumblr a safer place for all users, we aim to respect a diverse set of interests and content preferences, which can be adjusted in settings. We view this as an ongoing process as we continue to fine-tune how we detect and address mature content,” – Tumblr spokesperson.
The users’ outrage is just one example of a widespread concern regarding automated content moderation on social media platforms. What comes next is unclear, as Tumblr continues to figure out how best to move forward through their ongoing internal transition.